Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

No Mystery Left (Pornography cripples relationship-building skills)
abc ^ | 10-28-03

Posted on 10/28/2003 11:54:28 AM PST by wheelgunguru

Is the Easy Availability of Online Porn Leaving Kids Too Sex-Savvy?

Oct. 28 — A college student at Duke University clearly remembers how he crept into his parents' bedroom as a boy to find a cache of pornographic magazines that his parents had hidden away.

"My little friend was over at my house, and my parents were gone, and we decided we were going to look for pornography," the male student, who chose to remain anonymous, told 20/20's Lynn Sherr in 1993. His friend suggested that the porn could be hidden in the same place his parents hid his birthday presents — his mom's closet.

"And so we went in there, and there was this big box up on the shelf. And we opened it up and there were like tens and tens and tens of Playboys and Penthouses and things and, you know, it's just like porn bonanza," he said.

A decade later, young boys don't have to sneak around looking for porn. The hard-core images known as "adult entertainment" are everywhere. Go online and you'll easily find it on the Web, or in your e-mail in-box, regardless of your age or gender. Porn finds you at home, at work, even at the library — usually through uninvited spam.

But experts are concerned that boys who access pornography early on are spoiling their future sex lives. Exposure to porn can make young men less inhibited sexually, because they've seen it all, said Laura Berman, a sex therapist and the director of the Berman Center in Chicago.

"But it can also make them more inhibited, because they've never been involved with a real, live person, who has needs and feelings, and limits," said Laura Berman. "An Internet woman never says no, so she's easier to deal with than a real woman."

Porno Pop-Ups at Age 10

The sexual images on the Internet have a definite impact on young boys, who are now getting pornography pop-ups on their screen, Berman said.

"You become de-sensitized," Laura Berman said. "After looking at hours of Internet porn, sex is no longer exciting, or titillating. For these young men, who grow up watching these images and seeing them as ideal, they are disappointed by real women and real experiences."

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-44 next last
To: wheelgunguru
Not only that, but mainstream media, ads, programs reflects more and more of a "porno" mindset.
21 posted on 10/28/2003 12:29:05 PM PST by swarthyguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dandelion
That's a really cute story!
22 posted on 10/28/2003 12:31:10 PM PST by Queen Jadis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: amadeus
and men expect their women to perform like the porn stars they worship.

Out of curiousity...how is that any different then women wanting their men to act like Soap Opera guys?

23 posted on 10/28/2003 12:31:23 PM PST by ItsOurTimeNow ("Forth now, and fear no darkness!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

Comment #24 Removed by Moderator

To: wheelgunguru
bump
25 posted on 10/28/2003 12:39:26 PM PST by VOA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Aquinasfan
still hasn't grown up

That's why they call it... Playboy.

26 posted on 10/28/2003 12:44:34 PM PST by wheelgunguru
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Motherbear
Yep, nothing like that Sunday afternoon 'nap.'

We also make it a point to change out of our office clothes upon arriving home each night...

heh heh heh...
27 posted on 10/28/2003 12:45:38 PM PST by Mr. Thorne (Why don't they just have Lauren, Laurie and Kiran on in the mornings? Foxes and Friends! Woo hoo!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Beelzebubba; glorgau
No, they were just having sex immediately upon puberty and reproducing.

Culture comes as a boxed set and things weren't all that peachy keen 10,000 years ago.

If you haven't noticed, quite a few children are currently having upon puberty and reproducing (or simply catching diseases, thank to the wonders of birth control and abortion). Being sexualized certainly contributes. Is that what we really should be encouraging?

28 posted on 10/28/2003 12:48:18 PM PST by Question_Assumptions
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Aquinasfan
I think this problem is older than the internet. When I was a kid, my old man had (literally) hundreds of porno mags and videos around. My parents never thought it was a big deal, until I was caught with my first girlfriend.
29 posted on 10/28/2003 12:52:50 PM PST by exile (Exile - proudly ticking off the Left since 1992)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: wheelgunguru
So basically, for centuries women have been passing over average guys for "Mr. Perfect" (who then treats her like crap because he doesn't live up to her ideals) -- but now boys are passing over average girls for fantasy girls and now there's a problem?

Go figure...

30 posted on 10/28/2003 12:55:28 PM PST by Junior ("Your superior intellects are no match for our puny weapons!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Motherbear
a lot different than a 9 year old boy looking at a woman's naked butt posed provocatively a few inches from his face on a computer screen.

This wouldn't happen if people would stop posting that photo of Chelsea Clinton getting out of the swimming pool. No, wait, on second thought, it might actually help.

31 posted on 10/28/2003 12:57:53 PM PST by TrappedInLiberalHell (...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

Comment #32 Removed by Moderator

To: wheelgunguru
After looking at hours of Internet porn, sex is no longer exciting, or titillating. LOL! Yeah, right.
33 posted on 10/28/2003 1:20:56 PM PST by Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Question_Assumptions
Is that what we really should be encouraging?

No, it shouldn't be encouraged. The model of sex only within qa committed relationship is a highly successful one. I'm just saying that we shouldn't get overwrought about it. At the very least, looking is better than exchanging body fluids.

34 posted on 10/28/2003 3:32:23 PM PST by glorgau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: exile
I think this problem is older than the internet.

That's true, but the internet has made porn much easier to access, and has also removed the stigma of buying it. I remember discovering my friend's father's stash when we were kids. When porn makes it into print it's going to eventually get into the hands of children. That's just the way it is.

35 posted on 10/29/2003 4:50:05 AM PST by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: amadeus
Now young women flash their b&b at a club in front of strangers and men expect their women to perform like the porn stars they worship.

And becasue we grow up seeing ten's of thousands of fictional murders and other acts of violence, we now expect what?

36 posted on 10/29/2003 5:08:23 AM PST by laredo44
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Motherbear
Just for any of you guys who haven't seen real breasts...they have a habit of moving around and flattening a bit when a woman lies on her back!

Oh, you and your urban legends.

37 posted on 10/29/2003 5:08:35 AM PST by PBRSTREETGANG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: glorgau
The problem with the looking is that it can encourage the exchange of bodily fluids.
38 posted on 10/29/2003 8:44:48 AM PST by Question_Assumptions
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Aquinasfan
I think this problem is older than the internet.

Is it a problem?

The Secret Room:
Erotica from the Naples Archaeological Museum
http://www.solomonsrefuge.com/secret_room.htm

Robert Fulford's column about the erotic art of Pompeii
http://www.robertfulford.com/PompeiiEroticArt.html

Sex Sells: Pornography: Thse Secret History of Civilisation
http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/sssecret.htm

It is worth noting that with public scenes of pornography accessible to all in the Roman Empire in 79 B.C. when Pompeii was suddenly buried by a volcanic eruption, that Rome survived another 500 years.  Within a century of being puritanized, Rome was in tatters.  Of course, all trace of artistic debauchery was erased elsewhere through the Dark Ages.  So it came as a total surprise when the Pompeiian 'time capsule' was unearthed.  The return of a progression from artistic nudes to erotica to overt sexuality has parallel the rise of modern civilization.  To give a multi-cultural example, consider the ultra-puritanical views of Islam and the decrepit condition in which most of that civilization languishes.

That's true, but the internet has made porn much easier to access, and has also removed the stigma of buying it. I remember discovering my friend's father's stash when we were kids. When porn makes it into print it's going to eventually get into the hands of children. That's just the way it is.

In what way were you scarred for life by it?

39 posted on 10/29/2003 11:38:15 AM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (Rumble Thee Forth...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Question_Assumptions
Encourage? It can, but does it cause it? It might, so it should all be banned? A huge logical leap.
40 posted on 10/29/2003 11:43:59 AM PST by glorgau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-44 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson